Expert Spring MVC and Web Flow

public void testSimpleBind() {

// just like /servlet?names[0].firstName=Anya&names[0].lastName=Lala

request.addParameter("names[0].firstName", "Anya");

request.addParameter("names[0].lastName", "Lala");

binder.bind(request);

assertEquals("Anya", bean.getNames().get(0).getFirstName()); // true!

assertEquals("Lala", bean.getNames().get(0).getLastName()); // true!

}

Of course, you aren’t limited to binding to properties of objects inside Lists. You may also

reference a particular Stringinside a Listjust as easily as a Stringproperty of an object in the

List. To illustrate this, take the example command bean shown in Listing 6-13.

Listing 6-13.StringListCommandBean Class

public class StringListCommandBean {

private List<String> strings = new ArrayList<String>();

public List<String> getStrings() {

return strings;

}

public void setStrings(List<String> strings) {

this.strings = strings;

}

}

In this case, to reference the first Stringin the List, the property name would be strings[0].

When you are setting the values, it’s perfectly legal to refer to Strings in the Listin random order,

such as strings[4]and then strings[2]. Of course, if you are trying to read the value of

strings[0]before setting it, you will receive a nullvalue.

Listing 6-14 illustrates how binding directly to Strings inside a Listis performed.

Listing 6-14.StringListCommandBean Unit Test

public void setUp() throws Exception {

bean = new StringListCommandBean();

binder = new ServletRequestDataBinder(bean, "beanName");

request = new MockHttpServletRequest();

}

public void testSimpleBind() {

// just like /servlet?strings[0]=Anya&strings[1]=Lala

request.addParameter("strings[0]", "Anya");

request.addParameter("strings[1]", "Lala");

130 CHAPTER 6 ■THE CONTROLLER MENAGERIE